2000 miles away

Roughly 2000 miles away from where I'm sitting now, my Family both immediate and adopted are going through the emotional roller coaster that Christians such as ourselves go through when someone we love dies. We know that as Christians we are fellow heirs with Christ. When a Christian dies it is only a new beginning. We are filled with Joy knowing that a Loved one is seeing Jesus face to face. We envy them that. We are also filled with grief and jealousy that we don't get to spend anymore time with that person until we too finally meet Jesus in the flesh with our glorified bodies. I often feel guilt for the selvishness of such feelings but then I get angry for feeling guilty; it can wring you out. Eventually though, The Holy Spirit provides the comfort (if we let Him) and the Peace that comes from the Lord will replace the roller coaster. For my Family and friends I pray that the Peace comes Quickly.
Please take a moment to notice that there are two new links. The one is for Joel Hayes' site entitled the First Cause. Joel's site is the one that finally convinced me to start this one. It hasn't been updated in a few days because of the passing of his father John. The second Link is to the site that belongs to Joel's sister Rachel. Rachel is a writer and has done a wonderful job describing her Dad, so I won't bother. Except for this:
Joel Hayes and I became friends in the fifth grade. From that time on I was either at his house or he was at ours. Even better was that his parents became good friends with mine, eventually our whole families- brothers and sisters -became good friends. Joel's Older Brother Danny was the best man at my wedding. I remember the way Rachels laughter would ring through the house and Pete and Beka used to ride with me every Christmas to go look for the decorated houses and to see if we could get lost while doing it. The best thing though is that Both Joel's and my parents loved the Lord and made sure that Jesus was apart of our daily lives. As kids you don't usually think too much about other peoples parents except not wanting to do anything that might make them be mad at you. Its strange that as a kid I knew that Joel's dad Loved God and Loved his family. I say its strange because as a kid a was way too self absorbed and certainly not astute enough to see that on my own. If you were to ask me back then how I knew, I think I would have said "Watch him when he's home. It'll tell you everything" Now, today, I would say: "Look at his children. Look at the love they have for the Lord and for each other. It will tell you everything" You should check out the links. You will learn alot about my friends and adopted family. You will also learn alot about loving Jesus and loving each other. To Mrs Hayes, Danny, Rachel, Joel, Pete, and Beka : Thanks for sharing your Dad and your family with me and for being a part of mine. I miss you guys and can't tell you how much I ache over not being able to be there with you. I pray for you all often:

Numbers Chapter 6:
Aaron’s Benediction
22Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 23“Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘Thus you shall bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them:
24 The LORD bless you, and keep you;
25 The LORD make His face shine on you,
And be gracious to you;
26 The LORD lift up His countenance on you,
And give you peace.’
27“So they shall invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and I then will bless them.”


(if anyone else has a site they would like me to link to, please email me. If you don't know my email address then feel free to leave a comment)